Speaking to Money Control, Hussein said the introduction of four ATR72-600s could be looked at during the second quarter of 2019.

Ghalia Petrol LLC recently acquired a majority shareholding in GSec Monarch Private Ltd, which owns both Air Deccan and Air Odisha.

Given their recent problems in fulfilling their UDAN route obligations, Hussein said the most pressing priority would be to inject USD10 million and restructure and stabilize both carriers.

"In the first phase, we are looking at an investment of around $10 million to clean up the slate and restart operations... We need fund infusion on an immediate basis," Hussein said adding that the injection would have to be done within 90 days, so by around mid-January or February 2019.

Air Odisha, which operates a single Beech 1900D, has faced numerous difficulties in servicing the recently inaugurated Jharsuguda Airport in northern Odisha province. For its part, Air Deccan has struggled to service its UDAN route obligations which encompass Delhi Int'l-Pantnagar-Dehra Dun, and Delhi to Kulu, Shimla, Agra, and Ludhiana. It operates three Beech 1900Ds. Both airlines have been warned by the central government that they risk losing their respective route authorities unless they revamp their respective operations.

"In the short term, we are looking at restarting operations as soon as possible. We ourselves want the airlines to fly with a clear vision. We want to give a better experience," Hussein added.

About Air Odisha

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The airport in the east Indian state of Odisha was opened on September 22, 2018, and briefly saw scheduled traffic under the government-sponsored UDAN programme with Air Odisha (Bhubaneswar). The regional carrier, however, ended flights to Jharsuguda already on October 6 and did not resume them despite calls from the government for it to do so. Finally, Air Odisha's licence to operate UDAN routes was cancelled in late November 2018.

Odisha is primarily served by Bhubaneswar airport in the state's capital, the only international airport in the state.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has cancelled the UDAN route licences of Air Odisha (Bhubaneswar) after the airline had failed to increase its rate of regularity above 70% of all scheduled flights, the Odisha Sun Times has reported.

The regional carrier operated just a single Beech 1900D and had previously attracted the ire of various officials by either cancelling or not launching regional routes across the country. Air Odisha focussed on services awarded to it under the government-run support scheme UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme).

The AAI warned Air Odisha earlier that it would face losing its licence if it did not increase the regularity of operations.

Air Deccan (DKN, Nashik), which shares the owner, Ghalia Petrol LLP, with Air Odisha, has also been struggling operationally and according to ZeeBis has also lost its UDAN route licenses for flights in Maharashtra where it has most recently linked Pune with Nashik leaving it just with the licenses to operate in the North East of India where according to the AAI...

Air Deccan (DKN, Nashik) terminated its UDAN operations in the western Indian state of Maharashtra in early October, the Times of India has reported. The Indian government will reportedly seek to force the airline to resume flights.

The regional specialist used to operate services from Nashik to Mumbai Int'l and Pune, as well as from Mumbai to Jalgaon. The routes were awarded to Air Deccan in 2017 under the government-run UDAN or Regional Connectivity Scheme, which seeks to boost connectivity to under- and unserved airports in India.

While the carrier did not give any reasons for the termination of the routes, an unnamed official from the Airports Authority of India said that Air Deccan reportedly accrued a significant debt with Hindustan Aeronautics, which operates Nashik airport.

Air Deccan has been unsuccessfully trying to relocate from Nashik to Ahmedabad to avoid costly repositionings of the aircraft to Mumbai, where the airline could not secure apron slots for overnight parking.

The Indian government has issued a notice calling upon Air Odisha (Bhubaneswar) to explain why it had terminated services to Jharsuguda on October 6, just two weeks after they had been launched, Pragativadi has reported.

The Indian regional specialist launched flights between Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda in eastern India on September 22, 2018, after the airport had been officially inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, services ceased just two weeks later and have not resumed since. Air Odisha gave a vague explanation for its decision to suspend Jharsuguda operations, citing operational and technical reasons.

Since October 7, Jharsuguda has not seen any scheduled traffic.

The Indian government wants to establish if Air Odisha had valid grounds to terminate the route, which it had been allocated under the UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme) programme.

If the airline fails to sufficiently explain its decision or resume operations to Jharsuguda, it could even be stripped off its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC), the government warned.